A judge has shot down what he called a “risky” but novel proposal by 7-Eleven for a pre-trial ruling on sample objections to the relevance of evidence in two franchise class actions.
ASIC has won a $20 million judgment against derivative trader Forex CT for using āunfairā sales tactics and misleading clients into making trades from which the company would benefit even when they had informed their adviser they had limited financial resources.
Slater & Gordon has argued discovery is becoming āunduly onerousā in a cross-claim filed by Arnold Bloch Leibler in a class action accusing the law firm of breaching its duty of care by greenlighting Slate & Gordonās $1.2 billion acquisition of Quindell.
Courts have power to order oral discovery of potential witnesses ahead of trial, according to the judge overseeing two 7-Eleven class actions by franchisees, but the cases against the convenience store giant were not the occasion to exercise the power, he said.
The director of now defunct foreign exchange and derivative trader Forex Capital Trading has been banned from providing financial services for 10 years after ASIC found he had a serious lack of regard for compliance while overseeing the firm’s Wolf of Wall Street-esque trading floor culture.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has lost its appeal of a ruling that revoked its 22-year-old ‘community bank’ trade mark, with the Full Federal Court agreeing that the phrase has an ordinary signification and cannot be trade marked for the bank’s services.
The lead plaintiffs in two class actions against 7-Eleven have appealed a decision rejecting the very first Federal Court application for oral discovery, which would have seen four former employees bound by confidentiality agreements give evidence.
The judge overseeing two class actions over legal and accounting advice given ahead of Slater & Gordon’s disastrous Quindell acquisition has said he will hear the cases together, citing the “dangers” of the approach taken in litigation against GetSwift, which resulted in a judge being ordered to step down.
GetSwift has triumphed in its bid to disqualify a judge who refused to recuse himself from hearing a shareholder class action against the logistics software company after presiding over ASIC’s civil penalty proceeding against the company.
More than half of the $37.75 million settlement reached in a shareholder class action against aged care provider Estia Health will be left for distribution to group members if the settlement is approved at an upcoming hearing.